Pierre Lechantre: Egypt is no longer a strong opponent

Republic of Congo’s Coach Pierre Lechantre insisted that Egypt is not a strong opponent as it used to be, while the level of football in the continent is developing, giving many teams an equal opportunity of qualifying to the World Cup.

The Frenchman is fully confident that he can beat Egypt, ahead of their world cup qualification match. As he claimed that Egypt is currently beatable and the team is not as it used to be.

Congo will host Egypt in the first round of the 2018 World Cup qualifications on the 3rd of October, ahead of a group that contains Ghana and Uganda.

Lechantre told FIFA‘s official website, “This group has all the possibilities compared to other groups, as the performance of all the teams in the group is so near.”

“In which the chances of each team is not far from the other, and every team has a chance to qualify to a world cup spot,” he continued.

The Frenchman clarified, ” Everybody knows that there is no longer small teams in Africa, as football has developed a lot in the last couple of years.”

“Egypt is not with the same power and intensity as they used to be in the past years, as for Ghana they are going through a hard period. And by that it gives every national team a chance in order to seal a world cup spot,” explained Lechantre.

“Any national team that wants to qualify will have to go through the first two rounds, as they will be crucial,” he said, and continued, “so if we can pick up four points against Egypt and Uganda, we will open a window of opportunity to ourselves.”

Lechantre also insisted on,”We don’t have stars in our national team compared to others, but we will rely mainly on the spirit and the tactical commitment.”

“After our exit from the African Cup of Nations qualification, we will play with no pressure ahead of us and we are trying to build a new strong team,” the Frenchman added.

Lechantre concluded saying,”My experience in Africa will have a hand of course, but i do believe that the coach is only 30% of the team.”

“Although i don’t differentiate between an abroad player and a native player, I do give the chance to the one who truly deserve it,” he concluded.